A Diamond in the Rough
by pieperson28
Summary: Based on the 1992 animated version. Jasmine hates being trapped and not being able to marry for love. But the prince of her dreams might not be who you think they are. femslash, Jasmine and Aldina (genderbent Aladdin, OOC?). Still feeling out a rating, but some adult language will be used as it goes on. Thanks to dorodraws and colorfulartists86 (Madonna Hassiuen) for the coverart.


**Authors Note!**

**Hi I'm back. I've been wanting to do this for a long time. I've actually had it "started" for a while, I just sort of had writers block? But I'm back now! Cool!**

**P.S / small warning: This is rated T right now and I think that's ok? There are new rules and guidelines now and that makes me worried? I've got one nasty bit at the end with Prince Achmed so please let me know if you didn't like it or if I need to change the rating or anything.**

**P.P.S. I have cut some stuff, but this story opens up for more "adult" themes I think (more than TLM for sure). LMK if you want me to do this version and then another more "adult" version too just PM me.**

**Hope you enjoy the story**

* * *

You twist on your seat and watch as the last hints of the day's heat disappear behind the dunes. A cool wind stirs the hot pink sand and you turn back forwards, pulling a sun scorched map out of your saddle bag. The light of a purple dusk says that you don't have much time left and you hope you don't have to spend another night camped out on a dune and waking up to sand in far too many places. The sway of your camel slows as you begin the climb over the next dune. You flick the reins and click your tongue as you absented mindedly return the map to its side pouch. The camel stops as you reach the top and you turn to grab the reins again and you feel your jaw drop.

Agrabah. Tall sandstone arches welcome you into the city as you pass under it. Tall sandstone buildings stretched high creating long shadowed alleyways. Lights began to appear behind blinds, and the last merchants and fire eaters were packing up their things for the night. You continued deeper through the winding city streets. Around another corner, past another lane of merchant's stalls was the wall. And a small man with an exhausted camel? You make eye contact, so you smile politely, and the man beams back at you, quickly dismounting the camel.

"Ah, Salaam! And good evening to you worthy friend! Please, please, come closer"

You sigh but dismount your camel and walk over to him anyways. You camel does not stop with you and instead draws a bit too near to merchant.

"Too close, a little too close!"

You click your tongue and tug him back on the reins.

"There!" He scurries over towards his camel "Welcome to Agrabah! City of mystery," He snaps his fingers and a small flame appears and disappears with two waves of his hands. "Enchaaantment!" He draws out the 'a' and pats his camel on the head. "And the finest merchandise this side of the river Jordan!" A small stand with a "sale" sign on the front seems to "magically" unfold itself from the saddle bag.

"On sale today, come on down heh heh. Look at this!" He pulls out a plain looking brown vase and begins shaking it and flipping it this way and that "Yes! Combination hookah and coffee marker, also Julienne fries. Will not break" he taps it on the table and it breaks "will not – oh it broke…" He throws it away, pausing only for a moment before quickly pulling out a small white box "Ohhhh! Look at this! I have never seen one of these intact before. This is the famous Dead Sea Tupperware. Listen" He holds the box up to his ear and blows a raspberry "Ah, still good."

You sigh and roll your eyes. You don't have time for this sales man and his cheap gimmicks. You click your tongue and pull your camel to leave.

"Wait, don't go! I can see that you're only interested in the exceptionally rare. I think then, you would be most rewarded to consider this" He pulls a small bronze lamp from his sleeve. "Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts."

Garbage. You shake your head and turn to move around him.

"This is no ordinary lamp! It once changed the course of a young woman's life. A young woman who, like this lamp, was more than what she seemed. A diamond in the rough." He wiggles his eyebrows and you see a bit of relief cross over his face as he's gotten your attention back. "Perhaps you would like to hear the tale?" He tilts the lamp and silver sand pours out from it. With a flourish, he throws it up into the air "It begins on a dark night, where a dark man waits, with a dark purpose." It falls like stardust and is caught up in a cool desert breeze sweeping you into the story.

* * *

The man is tall and stately upon his horse. Even under the low light of the crescent moon, his shadow is the darkest thing stretching across the sand. A smaller, dirtier man rides up on a scraggy camel, quickly jumping off. There are no moves to acknowledge his arrival.

A dangerously quiet voice carries sharp and clear over the dune. "You… are late."

He clears his throat, voice still raspy from a long journey and little water "A thousand apologies O patient one."

"You have it then?"

"I had to slit a few throats, but I got it." He reaches into his vest and pulls out half of a bronze scarab medallion. The dark man's arm shoots out, hand open like a crooked talon demanding its prize but thief pulls away, proud to be the one making demands this time "Ah ah ah! The treasure?" A dark shape flies from the tall man's shoulder, snatching the medallion out of the smaller man's hand. "Ouch…"

The bird eagerly delivers the medallion to his master "Trust me my pungent friend. You'll get what's coming to you."

"What's coming to you!" His parrot echoes. The man reaches into his tunic and pulls out the other half of the medallion. The small man's eyes widen as the two halves of a legend are finally reunited. The bronze scarab comes to life, a brilliant gold star zooming away over the sand.

"Quickly! Follow the trail!" Snapping his horse into action, the man does not wait for his companion to climb back onto his weary camel.

"Faster!" Ignoring his horse's protests, he snaps the reins harder in order to follow the lightning fast bug. It darts quickly, skimming over and around several large dunes before reaching its destination. Without missing a beat, the scarab splits in half, each piece circling the ridge before plunging into the sand. Two glowing eyes open as the two men approach. The ground shakes and they are thrown off their mounts as the tiger's head rises from the sand. The mouth slowly opens as they stand, its gaping maw casting a golden glow across the desert night.

"At last, after all my years of searching, the cave of wonders!" If not for his own gaping mouth, the thief would've laughed at seeing the look on the master's face.

"Caw! Cave of wonders."

"By Allah…"

The man quickly snaps out of it, "Now remember Gazeem!" He grabs the shorter by his shirt and shakes him for emphasis "Bring me the lamp! The rest of the treasure is yours, but the lamp is mine!"

The word treasure snaps Gazeem out of his daze. _The cave of wonders and it's Forbidden Treasure are going to make all of this worth it. Soon I will be richer than the sultan himself! _His hands unconsciously rub together as he chuckles to himself at the thought. However, upon reaching the edge of the tiger's mouth, looking down into the bright light, the bottomless stairs, an actual giant throat… He unconsciously clutches one of it's huge canines, carefully scooting around it straining for a better look when a mighty sigh sends him sprawling back down the hill.

"Who disturbs my slumber?"

Scrambling to his feet, all bravado gone, he swallows before responding, "It is I, Gazeem, a humble thief."

"Know this. Only one may enter here. One whose worth lies far within. A diamond in the rough." The tiger stares down, unblinking eyes locked on Gazeem who in turn, looks back questioningly towards his employer.

"What are you waiting for? Go on!" He gestures impatiently towards the tiger's mouth which is an open gateway once again.

The tiger sighs as Gazeem creeps up towards the mouth and onto the lip above the first stair. He slowly puts a foot down onto the top stair. When nothing happens, he lets out his own sigh, allowing his full weight to rest on the stair. Suddenly a bright light shines from the tiger's throat and it lets out a thunderous roar. The last thing the man sees is the fear that flashes across Gazeem's face as he is swallowed by the crushing jaws of the tiger. Lightning sparks through the sand as the tiger dissolves back into the desert. Its golden eyes fade, and the pieces of the scarab roll down the hill.

The tiger's voice fades out like the echo of thunder. "Seek thee out the diamond in the rough..."

Coughing the parrot caws angrily "I can't believe. I just don't believe it! We're never gonna get a hold of that stupid lamp!" He gathers up the two fallen scarabs in a flurry of feathers "Just forget it I mean look at this. Look at this! I'm so ticked off that I'm molting!"

"Patience Iago, patience." Iago drops the scarabs into the man's waiting hand and then lands on his shoulder. "Gazeem was obviously less than worthy."

Iago paces as he rants "Oh, there's a big surprise. That's an incredi- I think I'm gonna have a heart attack, and die from NOT surprise! What're we gonna do? We got a big problem here, a BIG PRO-"

His sentence is cut short as is beak is pinched closed. "Yes, we do. Only one may enter. I must find this one this… diamond in the rough."

* * *

"So? Not too bad hmm my friend?"

You rub the sand from your eyes, blinking as you realize you are back in Agrabah. "But, who was that man? Does he get the Forbidden Treasure? How does it all relate to that dingy lamp you have?"

"Ah ah ah! Patience my friend. All will be revealed in time"

You sigh again. You pull a small mat from your camel's saddle bag and settle on the ground, leaning against the camel for support. A very interesting Arabian night indeed.

* * *

"Stop thief!" The shout carries over the streets as a skinny girl appears on a rooftop holding a loaf of bread. Three guards armed with sharp scimitars have her corned on the edge of the rooftop.

The lead guard draws his sword "We'll have your hands for a trophy street rat."

"All this for a loaf of bread?" She looks incredulously at the loaf before turning and leaping over the edge. The web of cloth lines stretching between windows and the occasional awning slow fall. The accumulated laundry acts as a cushion as she lands on the street with a soft thud, bread falling into her waiting hand.

The guards reach the edge of the rooftop and easily spy her down below in the street. "There she is!"

"You won't get away so easy!"

"You think that was easy?" she quips back at them.

A group of women watching from the nearby house giggle and she winks at them.

Suddenly the voice of the guard sounds from down the street, "You two, over that, and you! With me. We'll find her." More guards.

She shakes off most of the clothes, keeping a sheet and wrapping it around herself and she sidles up to the group.

"Morning ladies."

"Getting into trouble a little early today aren't we Aldina?"

"Trouble? No way. You're only in trouble if you get caught—"

A hand yanking her up by her purple vest cuts her off mid-sentence. "Gotcha!"

The furious, glaring, sweaty, missing-a-tooth face of the head guard filled her vision. "I'm in trouble!"

"And this time, we're gonna—"

The guard's hat is suddenly drawn down over his eyes and he let's go of her. She straightens out her vest and gives a friendly salute to her friend.

"Perfect timing Abu, as usually!"

The monkey smiles and salutes back with his fez. Holding out her arm, Abu climbs on as she runs past the head guard… and into the commander.

She ducks nimbly around the clumsy swing of his sword. Abu taunts him from atop a barrel as Aldina sneaks behind him, undoing the sash of his pants and sprinting out to the main street. The ensuing chase is wild. The guards were especially persistent that day, chasing her up and down the streets of Agrabah, knocking over barrels, bumping into musclemen and fire eaters, flocks up sheep, until she's once again cornered in one of the upper floors of an empty house.

Grabbing a rug off the floor, "Here goes, better throw my hand in!", she again hurls herself off a very tall building.

The rug works surprisingly well as a parachute, landing her several streets over in a dark and quiet alley.

She and Abu high-five before plopping down next to the wall "And now, esteemed effendi, we feast! All right!"

She breaks the bread in two, handing one half to Abu who digs in immediately, but a noise causes her to hesitate. Two children on the other end of the alley knocked over some trash. Catching Aldina's eye, the girl drops the fish bones she found and pulls her younger brother close. She sighs and smiles at her bread, giving a knowing look to Abu. He chatters and takes another bite of his bread but Aldina has already stood up and gone over to the children.

She holds it out to the girl, "Here, go on- take it."

She pats the girl on the head as she feeds her brother, before turning and walking down the alley.

She smiles as Abu jumps on her shoulders, "Ah Abu, you've finished your bread I see?" The monkey chatters and huffs with his arms crossed, but Aldina knows that he gave his half to the children as well.

Noise from the entrance draws the pair towards the entrance of the alley where a crowd has gathered. Pushing past or under the burly men in the way, she can see why. The crowd has been following an expensive looking man on an expensive looking horse.

"On his way to the palace, I suppose."  
"Another suitor for the princess."

Moving forwards through the people she draws nearer to the prince and his upturned nose. His whip ready in his hand keeps most people at bay, but just as Aldina reaches the front of the crowd, she feels the bump of child against her legs.

"Yasin wait!" Another child runs past after the boy who got in front of the guards… and the horse.

"Out of my way you filthy brats!" Aldina winces as the crack of the whip around her forearm but manages to pull it out of the prince's hands.

Still taken aback, the prince just sputters as she throws his whip back to him "Hey! If I were as rich as you, I could afford some manners!"

"Impudent girl! I'll show you manners" Sneering, he kicks her backwards into the mud as he continues on his journey.

Ignoring the laughing crowd and brushing the mud off her face she called to the prince "Look at that, Abu. It's not every day you see a horse with two rear ends!"

That got his attention. His mustache seemed to curl up as he glared back at her, "You are a filthy girl and a worthless street rat. Too dirty to be a princess and too ugly to be a whore. You were born a street rat, no man will ever want you, and you will die a street rat." The horse's tail flicked one last time as the palace door slammed closed.

The crowd dispersed as Aldina kept cleaning herself off. Walking up to the impossibly tall, heavy doors to the palace, her brows furrowed, the prince's words still ringing in her ears.

"I'm not worthless. I don't need a man and I'm no whore. Come on Abu, let's go home."

It was a long walk home from the palace doors, especially after being chased across the city. There was no central plan to Agrabah. Aldina doubted that the sultan himself could bring order to the tangle of streets and jumble of buildings. But one thing was assured, the richer you were, the closer to the palace you got to live. Though the palace and the central market were the largest landmarks in the city, Aldina had plenty of experience navigating the maze. Slowly the colored drapes faded, and more chips appeared in the stonework. Up one last flight of stairs, one last rickety ladder and she was back.

Abu ran towards his pillow, took off his fez and fluffed up the pillow as Aldina draped a blanket over the small monkey who was then almost immediately asleep. Leaning back on the other side of the stairs, she pushed back the curtain to reveal a perfect view of the sultan's palace.

"Someday Abu, things are gonna change. We'll be rich, live in a palace, and never have any problems at all…"

* * *

**Thanks again for reading! I'm doing some shout outs now for the favorites and follows from these past dormant months. If I missed you just LMK, if I've shouted you out before and am doing it again, oops? **

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